Why Are Mortgage Rates Rising?

People are living longer than ever before, a phenomenon undoubtedly made necessary by the 30-year mortgage.

~ Doug Larson

Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Financial Planning #136 posted at Bargaineering. Thanks!

On Monday, several Canadian banks boosted their fixed mortgage rates by 60 basis points (.60%). That’s a pretty big hike all at once. The Globe and Mail ran the following headline: Mortgage Rate [...] Continue reading Why Are Mortgage Rates Rising?





Financial Priorities: Focus vs. Diffusion

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.

~ Jennifer Yane

Update: This article is featured in the Money Hackers Blog Carnival #109 posted at Maximizing Money. Thank you!

I’ve written a lot of “vs.” posts comparing various financial priorities like RRSPs vs. TFSAs and RRSPs vs. Paying Down Debt. I still understandably get a lot of questions about [...] Continue reading Financial Priorities: Focus vs. Diffusion





Where Are Interest Rates Going?

Credit buying is much like being drunk. The buzz happens immediately and gives you a lift . . . The hangover comes the day after.

~ Joyce Brothers

Update: This post is featured in the Money Hackers Carnival #103 at Need Money Tips.

Yesterday’s post outlined in detail the debt overhang that I believe will lead to a big debt hangover. The mechanics of how this might play [...] Continue reading Where Are Interest Rates Going?





Our 2010 Financial Plan

Map out your future, but do it in pencil.

~ Jon Bon Jovi

Well, after the last 2 years, my pencil is 2 centimetres long and my eraser – well, let’s just say I have a new one. Budgeting and goal setting have been a real challenge recently for reasons outlined in Our Money Story (Part I & Part II) last week. Still, that hasn’t kept me [...] Continue reading Our 2010 Financial Plan





Our Money Story: Part II

In theory one is aware that the earth revolves, but in practice one does not perceive it. The ground upon which one treads seems not to move, and one can live undisturbed. So it is with Time in one’s life.

~ Marcel Proust, The Past Recaptured, 1927

Yesterday I posted Part I of Our Money Story. I would have preferred to keep the story to one post, [...] Continue reading Our Money Story: Part II





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